Prometheus 6

President of N.A.A.C.P. Is Resigning
By MARIA NEWMAN

The president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Kweisi Mfume, said today that he was stepping down as head of the nation's oldest and largest civil rights group.

Mr. Mfume, 56, a former congressman from Baltimore who became the N.A.A.C.P.'s president in 1996, said he wanted to spend more time with his family.

"I just need a break," he said at a televised news conference in Baltimore. "I need a vacation. I'm just not going to do anything for a while."

The group's legal counsel, Dennis Hayes, will serve as interim president while the organization conducts a national search for replacement for Mr. Mfume, who is to depart on Jan. 1.

Mr. Mfume took over the organization at a time when it was saddled with a $3.2 million debt. He brought fiscal stability by running the operation with a corporate style of management and laying off some staff to save money.

"For the last nine years, I've had what I believe is both the honor and the privilege to help revive and to help restore this great organization," Mr. Mfume said at the news conference.

"In my heart of hearts, I know the job has been done, and I step aside willingly," he said.

Mr. Mfume's resignation comes at a time when the N.A.A.C.P. is facing a review by the Internal Revenue Service that its executives say is politically motivated because of the group's chilly relationship with President Bush.

Mr. Bush declined to speak at the last four N.A.A.C.P. annual conventions. White House officials said the president had scheduling conflicts this year when the group was meeting in Philadelphia. But they also cited "hostile political comments" about Mr. Bush from N.A.A.C.P. leaders in recent years as the main reason he decided not to attend.

In a letter dated Oct. 8, the I.R.S. told the association it was reviewing its tax-exempt status, citing a speech given by its chairman, Julian Bond, at its Philadelphia convention.

In the letter, the I.R.S. said it had received information that Mr. Bond conveyed "statements in opposition of George W. Bush for the office of presidency" and specifically that he had "condemned the administration policies of George W. Bush in education, the economy and the war in Iraq."

The letter reminded the association that tax-exempt organizations are legally barred from supporting or opposing any candidate for elective office.

Mr. Bond's speech on July 11 included a long section that sharply criticized the Republican Party, Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for their positions on an array of issues important to black Americans.

In an interview with The New York Times last month, Mr. Bond defended his remarks, saying they focused on policy, not politics.

"This is an attempt to silence the N.A.A.C.P. on the very eve of a presidential election," he said. "We are best known for registering and turning out large numbers of African-American voters. Clearly, someone in the I.R.S. doesn't want that to happen."